A chore chart is a great way to make sure that all of your roommates pitch in when dealing with the common areas. In order to make a chart, you’ll need to sit down with your roommates and decide which tasks you’ll individually be responsible for and which one’s you’ll work on together. If you’re planning on making a rotating chore schedule, dividing up the tasks evenly is essential. Here are a couple sample charts to help you get started.

A chart like this one works well if you and your roommates need a little bit of guidance in order to get the work done properly. Tasks are broken up by week so that roommates can complete them whenever they get a chance within the time frame. This type of chart is most useful when dealing with roommates that are responsible and self-motivated.

This type of chart specifies what day of the week a particular chore will be done on. This is helpful for roommates that have trouble motivating themselves to clean up their share of the apartment. Assigning similar tasks on the same days, such as vacuuming and sweeping, makes it possible for roommates to work together while completing their own chores. This schedule also allows plenty of room to shift things around for work or school schedules. Of course, as with any chore chart, the tasks assigned to each roommate rotate each week.

This type of chart works well for roommates who seem clueless about cleaning. Each area of the house is broken down into components that detail the chores that need to be done. One roommate could take on one room, or chores could be divided up across the rows of the chart, giving a mixture of different tasks to each roommate. Clueless cleaners also perform better as a part of a team, so roommates with a chart such as this one may choose to set aside an hour each week to all work at the same time to complete their chores.